There once was a motley crew who shared profound interests.
They merrily met monthly in a seaside city to share their vast knowledge & to chat & to laugh.
Word spread far & wide about the good times being had by all.
Gradually the gaggle became larger & then Much Larger in number.
And soon the Interesting People were sharing very close quarters indeed, for the space had not expanded as their numbers had. A special delegation was (not so) secretly empowered to expand their erstwhile horizons.
They persevered in their joyful meetings, close quarters though they endured. And they discovered how valuable it was to catch knowledge & friendship by osmosis & by rubbing elbows with others of their ilk.
During a particular gathering of Powerful Ilk, one of this band of Wise Ones stepped forward to relay stories of her journey to create a tome for all Sewing Kind.
Her odyssey was roundly received and lauded as virtuous & just. Tomes were inscribed and hereafter to become part of true history & lore.
Mighty powers gathered in this small nexus as their leader, aided by gesticulating hands of many, then called forth all to share their most recent quests & victories.
And Lo the call was answered. Mightily.
Scribe of the Band dutifully recorded all for posterity.
Concluding the Gathering, a Noble Challenge was issued for all to henceforth dare their hand by the month of October.
The intrepid delegation which had been sent forth far & wide to seek a more commodious magical place achieved their task.
And from this time forth, the new locus shall be so.
Please join the Atlantic Sewing Guild next meeting
Thursday, September 13, 2018
AT OUR NEW LOCATION come early to register (~6:30 for 7:00) Trinity Anglican Church Hall 321 Main Avenue, Halifax
ASG Members are guaranteed to shake any February blues at our next meeting
We have the fab, fun and fresh Margo Bergman making a presentation to us! Margo is quite the sewing celebrity in these parts with her popular sewing blog, Creating in the Gap. She will be bringing us tales of adventure in blogging and in creating her lovely (& colourful!) wardrobe, showing how the process fits into her life.
Margo is our kind of people! She loves clothes and is a self-declared fabric addict, a pattern hoarder who just can’t stop making things. The sewing projects she does are many and varied. Margo is a good example that it is indeed possible to produce beautiful clothes using, typically, local sources.
Right now Margo’s doing a crazy brave thing in her life & she serves as an object lesson for those who tend to hold back: it can be wonderful to take a step into the unknown. She has “secret skills to break out when a situation calls for it”, like so many of us who don’t necessarily acknowledge this in our daily grind . Maybe she’ll even explain how to back up a truck & trailer or more importantly what she’s created using a Christmas tablecloth!
The day before Valentine’s Day will be a marvelous time to join the Atlantic Sewing Guild to have a close up look at both the clothing and the Gal Creating in The Gap! (See Margo’s quote from Ira Glass here.)
NEXT MEETING OF THE ATLANTIC SEWING GUILD
with MARGO BERGMAN TUESDAY, February 13, 2018, 7PM Campbell Centre (BEHIND ST. AGNES CHURCH) CORNER OF MUMFORD & CHEBUCTO
Atlantic Sewing Guild started the New Year right – with something completely different for us. We were joined by Jackie and Joseph Clairmont who are a wonderfully creative sister/brother duo. As soon as they started the presentation about their Cos-Play adventures, they were inundated with questions from Guild members. This was a particularly good result, as several of the most interested questioners had been self-confessedly totally uninterested in hearing about something so far from their usual experience as the world of fantasy creations!
Joseph started making his costumes way back in high school and Jackie thought this was a very peculiar pursuit – until she was later also bitten by this particular creative bug. Now Joe fosters Jackie’s costume-sewing explorations & her studies in the Nova Scotia Community College Entrepreneurship Programme. He approaches his work like it is “foam smithing”.
Joseph sculpts, casts & moulds many different types of materials into fanciful costumes & characters, with (and in) which he travels across Canada and as far afield as New York, where he attended Comic-Con with 200,000 other aficionados! (Comic-Con is a pop-culture conference phenomenon for people with interests as diverse as comic books, card & video games and which crosses genres as diverse as horror, animé and independent film.) Can you even imagine being there with so many other people also enrobed in their fantastical dreams?
Once Jackie got interested in creating her own Hallowe’en costumes in high school, she began to see in Joe the perfect older brother guru, who introduced her to this world of most intriguing characters. Joseph sculpts while Jackie sews. She drafts and alters her own costume patterns and after NSCC is hoping to begin a costuming clinic. Both are inspired by the challenging aspects of creating characters who exist first in the mind or from far-gone eras, then bringing them to life as interpretations with their artistic vision. Jackie & Joe have met new friends from far & wide while also contributing to various charities through their participation & guest appearances.
Questions didn’t stop throughout the talk & beyond, members learning many new terms and concepts. Before this evening, who of us could discuss the use of materials like ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), or the upcoming Geekquinox in April? We even got to meet Ed Head, who serves as a base for Joe’s scupting.
Meet Ed Head
All in all, this was a fascinating glimpse into a new world for ASG. And who could fail to be impressed with the obvious regard and respect for each other that Joseph and Jackie Clairmont shared with us this first meeting of 2018? (and yes, they sometimes do commissions)
Super “I Can” Brother & Sister
ASG had a propitious start to 2018,
filling up more boxes with materials for our community sewing day on February 3 *(SEE BELOW). We are collecting warm hats, scarves and mittens for the homeless of our city. And we will meet for a group sewing day to make pyjama pants from the warm donated fabrics.
We were able to glean some warm fabrics from Joy’s Finds for our PJ purposes. And this last grouping of Joy’s fabrics was again gratefully received by many members.
Janet kept her hands busy & Carolyn enjoyed the goings-on,
while Karen kept track of us and Sheila kept up with notes for us.
Wait a sec – who’s that?
SEW AND TELL
Edgar shows us how to successfully mix it up in his Christmas shirts (& he actually used real buttonholes for these!) McCall’s 6044
Tory also shows us how to mix it up, adding fly-front, pockets & waistband to her Jalie jeans. In October, she gave her popular class to sew the Eleanore pattern in a day (seriously – one!). Tory’s Jeans in a Day Class
Is that you Pat?
Pat is ahead of schedule with her self-imposed 2018 quantity sewing. She showed iterations of Jalie’s Marie Claude 3667 in some lovely knits from Mill Yardage of New England.
Nancy‘s raglan dress was cozy & just perfect for winter (although we did miss her Twirly-Whirly)Butterick 6494
*NOT TO FORGET* Community Sew Day is Saturday Feb. 3, 10 – 4
HALIFAX CHRISTIAN CHURCH
51 Farnham Gate Rd., Halifax Atlantic Sewing Guild on Facebook
We have a special guest lined up to speak at our next meeting – hints will be on ASG facebook & email to come!
NEXT MEETING OF THE ATLANTIC SEWING GUILD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2018 7PM AT THE CAMPBELL CENTRE (BEHIND ST. AGNES CHURCH) CORNER OF MUMFORD & CHEBUCTO)
At the December meet-up, Barb Emodi exercised our brains with a fabulous presentation on the many ways to approach pattern manipulation for your very best fit. (And a reminder to “Control yourself, People: do one alteration at a time!”) She distills to the sensible axiom of using differing methods, depending on the preference, comfort, location & size requirements of the Sewer/Seamstress/Sewist. This brought up another interesting thought of what we call ourselves in 2017 – soon to be 2018 – my personal fave is Sempstress, a lovely Victorian & dignified term – probably not generally loved for the same reasons. However, the funniest has to be her blog’s Sewing on the Edge accidental moniker “a serial sewing sexist”.
Maybe it’s those racy pictures she uses to explain alterations?
Barb made clear the differences among the many methods – we could see lights beginning to go on as members nodded & “aha’d” throughout her presentation. We look forward to her book coming up for publication in Spring 2018: “Sew The Garment-Making Book of Knowledge. Real-Life Lessons from a Serial Sewist“.
Sew & Tell added to the usual hilarity, made all the more so by a sweet & savoury repast shared by our talented bakers.
Marilyn completed the coat she was working on at SSS with a panel of pretty scarf & Japanese appliqués; a clever bag to match from scraps; a beach bag towel combo for gifting.
Sheila using some of our bounty of Joy fabric for OOP Vogue 8335. Her Summer Challenge (3 visible fabrics) in OOP Vogue 1363
Suzanne‘s very painstakingly & beautifully sewn Vogue 9267, which she plans to alter & adjust further to her satisfaction; Kathleen‘s dress that started with OOP Vogue 8582 & ended with Joy fabric & some salvaged golf shirt collars
Pat made many oven mitts for gifts, using jelly rolls (so pretty!); We celebrate with Nasirah‘s first use of a commercial pattern Simplicity 5463; Norma‘s Silhouette 709 which she also started at SSS & found needing significant lengthening, along with coordinating Silhouette Yoga Pants
Angela‘s creative use of a tunic with interesting & colourful border detail, which she fashioned into coordinates, with top tied in with embellishment.
Our generous Atlantic Sewing Guild members filled 2 bins already with warm socks, mitts and fabric for our upcoming Community Sewing Day (February 3), when we will sew up warm pyjama pants for the homeless of Halifax.
Here’s a bargain you can scoop up, if it fits your machine better than it fits Rhea’s embroidery machine. $69. Contact her: eggbert.coolen@gmail.com.
Please remember to bring donations to the next meeting of warm hats, socks, mitts or warm fabric cuts for PJ bottoms for our upcoming ASG Community Sewing Project
NEXT MEETING OF THE ATLANTIC SEWING GUILD TUESDAY, January 9, 2018 7PM AT THE CAMPBELL CENTRE (BEHIND ST. AGNES CHURCH)
CORNER OF MUMFORD & CHEBUCTO)
Barbara Emodiis one of Atlantic Sewing Guild’s multi-talented resources. She is a sewing dynamo, teacher and popular blogger. Over the years we have been interested Show & Tell witnesses of Barb’s tracks to various sewing permutations & combinations. Barbara has taught sewing in Canada, Australia & the U.S.. She has written extensively for magazines (see Barb in Threads magazine and the Australian “Dressmaking with Stitches”) as well as on her instructional & often hilarious site https://sewingontheedge.blogspot.ca/ . Hard to believe that she finds time to be accomplished in the (Muggle) non-sewing world as well!
Recently Barbara has been doing deep research on fitting methods and on December 12 will share a different way of fitting. She will present some of the first principles of altering a pattern to fit and will introduce divergent approaches to fitting – all of them effective, each suited to a different type of sewist. You’ve paid attention to many fitting methods over the years so it will be interesting to hear some of the whys & wherefores – & perhaps why we can merrily ignore things we’ve thought are musts!
We are pleased that Barb will present her latest ideas & theories at the ASG meeting on December 12, 2017, especially considering how busy she must be with her first book coming up for publication in May/18. Link to pre-order Sew…The Garment-Making Book of Knowledge or Pre-order here: King’s Co-Op Bookstore to support your local independent book store (with 5% discount or higher if more than 3 of us order; will be personally delivered by Kathleen).
p.s. Just guess who the StyleArc Barb pants pattern is named after! If you guessed Barbara Emodi, you’d be right – come to hear her speak at the next Atlantic Sewing Guild meeting.
NEXT MEETING OF THE ATLANTIC SEWING GUILD IS TUESDAY, December 12, 2017, 7PM the campbell centre (BEHIND ST. AGNES CHURCH) CORNER OF MUMFORD & CHEBUCTO
John Pennoyer is an accomplished artist and internationally-respected theatre designer, and Lecturer of Costume Studies at Dalhousie University. After receiving his BA from McMaster University, John Pennoyer began his theatrical career as a props apprentice at Stratford, Ontario in 1972. Three years and several theatres later, he began design training under Daphne Dare, Stratford’s first Head of Design. In 1976 Pennoyer designed Robin Phillip’s production of Hamlet. This was followed by Ghosts, The Devils, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, Henry V, Henry VI, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Pericles, Twelfth Night and Of Mice and Men, among others done at Stratford, Ontario.
Pennoyer has also designed for Tarragon Theatre, Young Peoples’ Theatre, Le Theatre du P’tit Bonheur, the National Ballet of Canada, and the Canadian Opera Company. Outside of Toronto, he has worked for Le Theatre du Trident in Quebec City, the Banff Centre, Shakespeare & Co. in Lenox Ma, the Minneapolis Children’s Theatre, the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, the Welsh National Opera, and Tawandang Brewery in Bangkok.
Mr. Pennoyer is currently a lecturer and designer in the Costume Studies program, a part of the Fountain School of Performing Arts at Dalhousie University. He is currently designing sets and costumes for the upcoming Dal Opera production of Magic Flute, performances February 2 through 5 at the Sir James Dunn Theatre.
Please join us in welcoming JOHN PENNOYER to our holidaymeeting on DecEMBER 13 2016.
At our December meeting, we got to see and hear about Gloria Drysdale’s “crazy quilt” coats made by her Mother, Violet Drysdale. Her Mother learned to embroider from her grandmother when she was only five years old. In 1974, Gloria’s Mother made her “crazy quilt” coat and literally covered it with hand embroidery. She drew with her threads as others would draw with a pencil. Look at the results below with some close-ups.
Gloria also brought some gorgeous handmade necklaces she has recently made, of which we also have pictures. Enjoy!
At most of the Atlantic Sewing Guild’s monthly meetings, we have a guest speaker. Many are being confirmed at this point, but one who has confirmed is Shevon O’Toole, owner of A Private Affair Party Planning & Decor and award winning costume designer. Shevon will be talking to us about steampunk fashion.
Her odyssey was roundly received and lauded as virtuous & just. Tomes were inscribed and hereafter to become part of true history & lore.
The day before 
! (Comic-Con is a pop-culture conference phenomenon for people with interests as diverse as comic books, card & video games and which crosses genres as diverse as horror, animé and independent film.) Can you even imagine being there with so many other people also enrobed in their fantastical dreams?
She drafts and alters her own costume patterns and after NSCC is hoping to begin a costuming clinic. Both are inspired by the challenging aspects of creating characters who exist first in the mind or from far-gone eras, then bringing them to life as interpretations with their artistic vision. Jackie & Joe have met new friends from far & wide while also contributing to various charities through their participation & guest appearances.
for our PJ purposes. And this last grouping of Joy’s fabrics was again gratefully received by many members.
Janet
Recently Barbara has been doing deep research on fitting methods and on December 12 will share a different way of fitting. She will present some of the first principles of altering a pattern to fit and will introduce divergent approaches to fitting – all of them effective, each suited to a different type of sewist. You’ve paid attention to many fitting methods over the years so it will be interesting to hear some of the whys & wherefores – & perhaps why we can merrily ignore things we’ve thought are musts!
